Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Sunday morning.

MSFT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $500.00 price target (down previously from $560.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Guggenheim set a $675.00 target price on shares of Microsoft in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on shares of Microsoft from $630.00 to $600.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $650.00 price objective on shares of Microsoft in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $630.37.

Microsoft Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of MSFT stock opened at $459.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. Microsoft has a 12-month low of $344.79 and a 12-month high of $555.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $483.97 and its 200 day moving average is $502.73.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The software giant reported $4.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $3.65 by $0.48. Microsoft had a net margin of 35.71% and a return on equity of 32.45%. The firm had revenue of $77.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $75.49 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $3.30 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 18.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Microsoft will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 12th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.91 per share. This represents a $3.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, February 19th. Microsoft’s payout ratio is presently 25.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Microsoft news, CEO Judson Althoff sold 12,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.52, for a total value of $6,266,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 129,349 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $63,577,620.48. This trade represents a 8.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Takeshi Numoto sold 2,850 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $478.72, for a total value of $1,364,352.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 55,782 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,703,959.04. This trade represents a 4.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 54,100 shares of company stock valued at $27,598,872 over the last three months. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Microsoft

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 51.3% in the second quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 59 shares of the software giant’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Bulwark Capital Corp purchased a new position in Microsoft during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Westend Capital Management LLC now owns 73 shares of the software giant’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Sellwood Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Microsoft during the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 71.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Microsoft News

Here are the key news stories impacting Microsoft this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst and Street optimism — Wedbush’s Dan Ives and others are positioning Microsoft as set for strong Q4 results tied to AI/cloud momentum, helping lift sentiment ahead of earnings. Dan Ives: Very Strong Q4 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: Broker reaffirmation — Morgan Stanley kept an Overweight rating and high $650 target based on survey data showing rising enterprise software spend, supporting longer‑term upside expectations. Morgan Stanley Overweight
• Positive Sentiment: OpenAI monetization boost — OpenAI’s worldwide rollout of the lower‑cost ChatGPT Go subscription expands the addressable market for AI services where Microsoft has strategic exposure, lifting revenue hopes. OpenAI ChatGPT Go Worldwide
• Positive Sentiment: Data‑center expansion/community plan — News of a $500M–$1B Michigan data‑center push and Microsoft’s “community‑first” messaging shows continued capex to support Azure/AI growth, which investors view as reinforcing future revenue streams despite near‑term costs. Michigan Data Center Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical/short‑term rebound thesis — Some analysts note MSFT is oversold and could see a technical bounce ahead of earnings, which supports trading interest but is not a fundamental catalyst. Zacks: Ripe for Turnaround
• Neutral Sentiment: Minor operational housekeeping — The company closed some on‑campus libraries, a small cost/real‑estate move that got attention but is unlikely to materially affect earnings. MSFT Shuts Libraries
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory probe into Activision Blizzard — Italy opened investigations into alleged “misleading and aggressive” in‑game purchase practices for Call of Duty Mobile and Diablo Immortal, creating reputational and potential financial risk for MSFT’s gaming unit. Italy Investigates Activision
• Negative Sentiment: Legal risk from Musk trial — A judge cleared Elon Musk’s suit against OpenAI and Microsoft to proceed to a jury trial in April, introducing headline legal overhang and potential distraction/costs. Musk Trial Moves Forward
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory scrutiny and analyst trim — Switzerland opened a probe into Microsoft’s licensing fees and Barclays lowered its price target, both adding near‑term headwinds to sentiment amid capex worries and noted insider selling. Swiss Probe into Licensing Fees

Microsoft Company Profile

Microsoft Corporation is a global technology company headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen, Microsoft develops, licenses and supports a broad range of software products, services and devices for consumers, enterprises and governments worldwide. Its operations span personal computing, productivity software, cloud infrastructure, enterprise applications, developer tools and gaming.

Microsoft’s product portfolio includes the Windows operating system and the Microsoft 365 suite of productivity and collaboration tools (Office apps, Outlook, Teams).